ADESTE+ starts working in empowering audiences and rethinking culture

ADESTE+ Empowering audiences, rethinking culture is a large-scale European cooperation project co-funded by the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme and aimed at expanding cultural participation. 15 partners in 11 cities of 7 European countries will work together for 4 years to bring the public to the center of cultural organisations. The consortium counts with the participation of theaters,museums and multidisciplinary production centers.

One of the main objectives of ADESTE+ is to experiment with organisational and policy processes working on audience development and looking for an organisational and managerial change in cultural organisations.

ADESTE+ is based on previous projects and experiences. Many of the partners have been working together since 2013 to experiment on new ways of bringing the public to the center of cultural organisations. The general assumption on which ADESTE+ is based upon is that to increase cultural participation, cultural organisations need to face a managerial change through innovative approaches. The key challenge is to make available a wide range of quality cultural activities providing opportunities for all to take part actively.

Moreover, ADESTE + provides “capacity building” paths for organisations based on “design thinking” and “collaborative learning”, the production of shows, programmes and activities for various audiences and the creation of three international Summer Schools, in Lisbon (Portugal), Rijeka (Croatia) and Turin (Italy). These events are conceived as great moments of exchange and learning in which hundreds of operators from all over Europe will participate.

Artistic partners belong to different cultural disciplines: performing arts, museums and multidisciplinary production centers. All of them will work closely with research partners and with institutional partners. One of the research partners is the Institute of Leisure Studies of the University of Deusto, that will help better developing two closely interwoven dimensions: creativity as a valuable leisure experience (connected to strengthening cultural audiences, to developing emerging public and to sustainable management of a cultural heritage) and the necessity of retaining inclusive and vibrant urban public spaces renewed through Cultural and Creative Industries and organisations.

The project kick-off meeting took place on 5 December in Turin with the participation of Fernando Bayón (Head of the Institute of Leisure Studies of the University of Deusto) and Macarena Cuenca (Researcher at the Institute of Leisure Studies).